James Michael Kacian (born July 26, 1953) is an American haiku poet, editor, translator, publisher, organizer, filmmaker, public speaker, and theorist. He has authored more than 20 volumes of English-language haiku, and edited scores more, including serving as editor in chief for Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years. In addition, he is founder and owner of Red Moon Press (1993), a co-founder of the World Haiku Association (2000), and founder and president of The Haiku Foundation (2009).
Early life and career
Kacian was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in the region of the Northeastern United States, then he was adopted and raised in Gardner, Massachusetts. He wrote his first mainstream poems in his teens, and published them in small poetry magazines beginning in 1970. He also wrote, recorded, and sold songs under the name Jim Blake while living in Nashville in the 1980s. Upon his move to Virginia in 1985 he discovered English-language haiku, for which he is best known.
He set himself the task of writing a thousand such poems before seeking publication, and between 1985 and 1987 accomplished this. Since 1988 he has published thousands of his poems in hundreds of locations in dozens of languages, with the preponderance of them being published in the United States, but with substantial numbers also appearing in Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria, Israel, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Macedonia, Greece, Iran, Russia, China, India, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
From 1993 – 1998 he edited the haiku journal, which he followed (1998 – 2004) by assuming the editorship of Frogpond, the membership journal of the Haiku Society of America.
Also in 1993, Kacian founded Red Moon Press, which has become the premier dedicated haiku publishing house in the world.
Since 1996, Kacian has published more than 20 books, primarily haiku, and his work has been translated into more than 20 languages. His poems have won or been placed in virtually every international contest in the genre. All of his full-length collections have won awards.
Having proposed a new global haiku association in 1999, Kacian co-founded the World Haiku Association with Ban'ya Natsuishi and Dimitar Anakiev. In September 2000 the WHA held its inaugural conference in Tolmin, Slovenia.
From August to November 2000, Kacian traveled to nine countries — the UK, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan promoting a global haiku. Having invited haiku poets from around the world to submit their haiku to Frogpond, Kacian compiled and edited 2001's XXIV:1 issue, featuring haiku from 24 countries.
Beginning in 2004, Kacian began work on The Haiku Foundation. Among its offerings are The Haiku Foundation Libraries (hard copy and digital); Haikupedia, the online encyclopedia of all things haiku; interactive features for any level of participant; a history of world haiku, with specimen samples, in original languages and English; and more.
In August 2013, his anthology Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years was published by W. W. Norton & Company. The anthology tells the story of English-language haiku from its inception to the present, and includes his 70-page overview of the genre.
Also in 2013, Kacian created the first video haiga and haiku film. He first presented them publicly via The Haiku Foundation website, and then collectively at the HaikuLife Haiku Film Festival which he inaugurated in 2015.
Poetry collections
Kacian has written sixteen books of poetry, fourteen of which are dedicated to haiku or haiku-related genres. His poems have been translated into many languages.
Featured work
Kacian's haiku,
clouds seen
through clouds
seen through
(along with 29 other chosen haiku) is etched in a stone along the Katikati Haiku Pathway beside the Uretara Stream in New Zealand. (Poems were selected by the Katikati Haiku Pathway Focus Committee, New Zealand Poetry Society, and Catherine Mair.) In 2010 a second stone featuring his poem
a breeze and my mind on to other things
was added, making him one of only three poets with multiple stones, and the only American.
His essays have been cited in such works as:
Rowland, Philip (Autumn 2008). "From Haiku to the Short Poem: Bridging the divide". Modern Haiku 39(3), pp. 23–45, Yovu, Peter (Winter 2008). "Do Something Different". Frogpond XXXI, pp. 51–61,
Kacian's efforts on behalf of global haiku have been featured in Global Haiku and the work of Jim Kacian (Richard Gilbert, 2003).
Kacian's work has been anthologized in, among others: